Murder Trial of Teen Accused of Killing His Teacher is Halted After He Refuses to Leave Cell

Murder Trial of Teen Accused of Killing His Teacher is Halted After He Refuses to Leave Cell

The murder trial of a 16-year-old Massachusetts high school student slammed to a halt Tuesday after the teenager refused to leave his holding cell, where he was mumbling and twitching, court officers said.

Philip Chism was lying on the floor, spouting gibberish, with his eyes closed, authorities said. Defense attorney Denise Regan said her client “was about to explode” and “didn’t want to hurt anyone," the Boston Globe reported.

Investigators were about to wheel in a blood-stained recycling bin, which had carried the teacher’s body on the day she was killed, when Chism refused to return to court.

He is alleged to have stuffed Colleen’s body into the rubbisn container, then pushed her into the nearby woods where Chism raped her with a tree branch before abandoning her remains there, authorities said.

The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Chism and said court would resume Wednesday.

Jurors were dismissed Tuesday afternoon and told not to speculate on why the proceedings were halted.